Range Rover Sport 2020 review: HSE PHEV

A day of mostly suburban driving today, with tennis in the morning followed by the end-of-season soccer presentation over lunch, then a trip to the nearby bowling club in the afternoon.

The only exterior marking that distinguishes the Range Rover PHEV from its petrol-powered siblings is the badge at the rear which includes the letter 'e' after P400. Exterior optional extras fitted to our test car included a smart looking set of 21-inch alloy wheels ($3400), and a glossy black roof ($1470) which nicely contrasted the Firenze Red body paint.

Inside, we were greeted by an impressive-looking cabin dressed in high quality materials like the Grand Black wood veneers and the significant amount of ivory-coloured leather used throughout. I'm a fan of the large panoramic sunroof, which has a stylish blind that will automatically close when the car is parked, and will open again to the same position after turning the ignition on.

The HSE comes with a laundry list of top-notch equipment as standard. (image: Dan Pugh)

The HSE comes with a laundry list of top-notch equipment as standard, including an eight-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, remote central locking, keyless start, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, cruise control, leather trim, electric front seats, sat nav, a powered tailgate, powered everything else, heated folding mirrors and a panoramic roof.

Taking centre stage in the cockpit are the dual display screens stacked on top of each, and which control most of the functions within the car. In fact, Range Rover has seen fit to remove virtually all the buttons, leaving only air flow, temperature dials and a volume knob behind.

I found it relatively easy to navigate through the screens, with the quality and clarity of the screen graphics a stand out providing another nice touch to the premium feel of the cabin.

The only exterior marking that distinguishes the Range Rover PHEV from its petrol-powered siblings is the badge at the rear. (image: Dan Pugh)

The premium tech experience extends to the steering wheel, which features a controller that changes its icons depending on the function you are controlling. After a period of use I noted stereo controls were a little too sensitive, though, with even accidental touches triggering a response.

Inexplicably for a car at this price point you are required to shell out an extra $520 for Range Rover's Smartphone Pack in order to get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There are plenty of storage options upfront, with a decent-sized centre bin, two cupholders and large storage bin located in the dash above the glove box. My kids in the back made good use of another two cupholders and a small bin in the centre armrest.

There are pockets in the doors but they're not large enough to fit bottles. As you'd expect for an SUV of this size, passenger space is plentiful front and rear with good leg and headroom throughout.

The battery pushes up the boot floor by about five centimetres, removing almost 100 litres of carrying capacity and adding close to 300kg of weight.

With the rear seats down, boot capacity increases to a massive 1600 litres. It's worth noting the bag containing the charging cord is sizeable and also takes up space back there.